ZAFT: I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays~ :3
DarkfoxKit: Though most people I talked to were pretty bored as they were just sitting in their house all day. The Holidays have a lot of build up, but then when you get there, you realize just about everyone is closed and you have nowhere to go.
ZAFT:Well, it's still fun anyway. At least my mom's side of the family came over. :3
DarkFoxKit: Uh, well that doesn't exactly go with what I said, but I'm glad you had fun at least. I hope the Fentons didn't drive each other crazy.
ZAFT: I have a feeling they did… ^^' Anyway, onto the chapter~
(Two symbols, one red, and one blue, spin before colliding and flaring with light as they do so, showing the title)
Digital Phantom!
(Shows six forms in shadow before they are revealed to be Danny Fenton, Sam Manson, Tucker Foley, Takuya Kanbara, Andy Fenton, and Jazz Fenton)
Falling into destiny
(A swirling green portal is shown, followed by the sky and cities of the living world before a computer monitor is zoomed in on, revealing another world of lush greenery through that)
Reaching across new boundaries
(Andy Fenton appears with Jazz beside him. Takuya Kanbara appears behind him as well, the form of Agunimon appearing behind Takuya himself)
Let our stories come together
(Andy is shown with the form of Phantom beside him, a shadowed form with blue eyes behind the ghost boy)
Growing stronger
(Andy looks on at Phantom fighting before running to help the ghost boy by taking out his Fenton Rod)
Our pasts intertwine
(Six glowing orbs of light are shown, each of a different color (red, teal, lavender, dark purple, white, and yellow) before the red orb speeds towards Takuya)
Showing our future
(Takuya holds up his D-Tector before fractal code surrounds him, dissipating as fire erupts from it, revealing him as Agunimon, lunging out from the fire as Plasmius fires off ecto-rays at him, only for a glowing orange orb to appear around Agunimon and deflect the beams)
As we evolve
(The blasts speed past the screen as Tucker is shown with a Fenton Wrist ray being fired at a ghost)
Let's go… EVOLUTION
(Sam is shown with her Fenton Lipstick, firing it at a different ghost)
As our worlds collide
(Jazz is shown beside Andy, her hand on his shoulder as Andy looked shell-shocked by something)
We stand as one
(Jack and Maddie Fenton are shown, with the Fenton Works logo behind them as it glows green)
Growing strong
(A shadowed form is shown with blue eyes and a glowing white blade erupting from what looks like a giant weapon in the form's hands)
As we move along
(Danny is shown walking down the street with those closest to him appearing one by one; Andy, Tucke, Sam, Takuya, and Jazz.)
CHOU… SHINKA!
(Fractal code is shown before it dissipates to reveal Agunimon lunging out of the dissipating data, fire around his left fist)
Let's go… EVOLUTION!
(The group is shown facing down Plasmius, who looms above them with hands outstretched as a dark form appears behind Plasmius himself.)
Nothing will stand in our way!
(Andy, Danny, Tucker, Sam, Jazz, and Takuya all appear with ribbons of fractal code streaming out from behind them, a swirling green orb behind the ribbons of fractal code.)
Digital Phantom!
Chapter 16: Into the Ghost Zone
It had been a few weeks since the Wisconsin incident. Things had gone back to relatively normal. Jazz was trying to pretend the whole ghost battle thing never happened. While she knew ghosts existed, she wasn't going to try to hunt them down like her parents did, no matter what Jack said about her being a true Fenton deep down. Andy wondered if there was a way to have Jazz be more accepting of their family's oddness, and embrace it rather than trying to deny or change it. An idea came to him.
"You want to do what?" Phantom stared at Andy.
"I want to bring Jazz here to meet you," Andy repeated. "I think having a chance to meet a good ghost like you would open her mind more to the probability of ghosts being around, and accepting Mom and Dad's career choices. And also, more importantly, show her that not all ghosts are evil like Plasmius was."
"I don't know…" Phantom rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I mean… I can understand your intentions, but… I want to try and stay safe too, you know… just… a ghostly survival thing."
"I get that, but you've already met Takuya, so why not Jazz too?" Andy asked. "I think Jazz would be open to meeting you."
Phantom had been anticipating Andy asking what he had been doing at Wisconsin a few weeks ago, but Andy never asked him. Phantom should be grateful his brother wasn't trying to pry, but he was also worried. The fact Andy didn't ask him meant Andy likely came to his own conclusion, which could be dangerous. But now Andy suggested bringing their sister to meet with him, and now Phantom just felt incredibly awkward. He wasn't sure if he was ready for Jazz to meet with his ghost half.
Andy sighed, seeing Phantom's uneasiness. "I'm sorry, I did just kind of spring this on you out of the blue. I'm just… worried for Jazz, you know? She's not dealing with the fact that ghosts exist very… healthy. Let's just say she's been spreading notebooks and sheets of papers all over her room."
"Um… what kind of notes has she been taking?" Phantom asked nervously.
"From what I've seen, she's looking through her own diary to see her thesis on ghosts, and how they couldn't exist," Andy answered. "She's more shocked that she was wrong rather than the existence of ghosts themselves."
"Oh… Oh geez…" Phantom gave a cringe. "It sounds like she may be having a spazz-out."
Andy put a hand on his mouth to cover up what looked like a cough at Phantom's words. "Darn it, Phantom, don't make me laugh when it's supposed to be serious."
Phantom blinked. "I wasn't trying to make you laugh. It's just what… um… I've observed from watching your family sometimes."
Yeah… my family… Andy noted to himself. Or maybe you mean Danny?
Phantom frowned, noticing Andy's mood shifting a bit to suspiciousness. Phantom was starting to get better at detecting certain emotions coming from his brother since they spent a lot of time together as human and ghost, even more so than Tucker and Sam.
"Um… so you think meeting me will help with her spazz-outs?" Phantom asked, trying to lift Andy's mood.
Andy tried not to laugh again. "Erm… well I'm hoping it would, but I can't say for sure. Maybe we'll wait on that, and see how things go first. If she doesn't get any better, I'll ask again if you're okay with meeting her. Does that sound fair?"
Phantom smiled. "Yeah, it does. Let me know how she is doing and if she doesn't get better in a few weeks or so, I will be willing to meet with her."
"Thanks, here's hoping Jazz will recover soon," Andy said. "By the way… do you feel up for some training?"
"More dodging training?" Phantom asked.
"Not quite," Andy said as he held out his Fenton Rod, and Fenton Pistol. "I've been thinking about it since the incident in Wisconsin. Dodging is all well and good, but sometimes we might have to fight, and it wouldn't be good if we were unable to reach you for whatever reason. We were lucky you were in Wisconsin with us at the time, but we can't keep banking on you always being with us when a ghost attacks, you know?"
Phantom nodded. "Yeah, I saw that. Even Takuya, as Agunimon, was having trouble. I think he should be involved in this new training as well, because well… he needs more experience fighting ghosts."
"Yeah, and I'll be sure to bring him here, or bring you back to the lab when Mom and Dad are out for that," Andy said. "But for tonight, I want to see how I stack up against you. Will that be okay?"
Phantom looked uneasy with the idea of fighting Andy, even if it was just a friendly sparring session. "Um… I don't know… I don't really want to hurt you, even if it's just a friendly sparring session. I mean… I'm… Um… Well…" Crap… way to go, Fenton! Dig yourself deeper into the hole, why don't you?
Andy gave a thoughtful look at Phantom. "Okay, you don't have to spar with me now. Perhaps we should start with Agunimon first. Then after that, we'll start training you with your energy control."
"Huh?" Phantom blinked, surprised at this sudden new training. "What brought that on?"
"You seem to be unsure about being able to hold back enough to not hurt a human," Andy stated before he used the tip of his Fenton Rod to poke Phantom's head a bit. "And you know that's not good, right? What if there comes a time you have to fight a human? There aren't just bad ghosts out there, you know. And one of these days, Mom and Dad will try to fight you, they are ghost hunters after all. I want to have some peace of mind that you don't accidentally hurt them, and they don't hurt you."
Phantom winced at Andy poking his head with the Fenton Rod, but he did agree with Andy's thought process. "That may be a good idea. I mean… I'm still trying to understand my powers, and I don't feel like I can use them against humans because my ecto-rays can be very destructive."
"Which is exactly why we'll be having you practice with them first in the lab. We'll be able to measure how strong your ghost rays are by default, and see if we can bring down the power enough to just sting or knock out a human harmlessly," Andy informed.
"Knock out a human harmlessly?" Phantom blinked. "Can… Can I do that?"
"Well, the Plasmius clones did that to me and Agunimon when he knocked us out," Andy explained. "So I think you are capable of doing that. And that way you can stop the fight before it gets out of hand."
Phantom smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I would like that. It will be helpful for sure."
"That sounds great," Andy said. "I'll let you know when we can use the lab for training."
"Oof!" Something big, yellow, red, and black fell on the ground in front of Andy.
"WAH!?" Andy jumped back. "Agunimon!? What the fruit baskets are you doing here!?"
"Hi, Andy…" Agunimon groaned as he sat up. "Sorry about that… I was trying to fly…"
"Fly? I thought we established that you can't fly, you're not even a ghost," Phantom pointed out. "You're a Digimon… uh… whatever that is."
"Well, I know I can't fly like you can, but… you know… since I can use fire and all… I thought I could create my own jets with my fire or something and fly?" Agunimon sheepishly said. "It, uh… isn't going so well."
"Wait… you're using your fire as a jet?" Andy blinked. "How exactly?"
"Um… that's… where the issue is…" Agunimon admitted sheepishly. "I… don't exactly know how… I mean, I know I have these areas on my armor that fire can come out of, but… it's… not working out the way I was hoping…"
"Where were you trying to use your fire? Your hands?" Andy asked.
"That's the only way I know how to use them," Agunimon admitted.
Andy blinked. "Could you use fire on your feet?"
"Huh?" Agunimon blinked, confused. "Why do you ask that?" He shifted his position on the ground so that one of his foot guards was facing away from Andy, revealing a small slit in the back of it.
"Well, I'm no rocket scientist, but I have seen on TV that people use jet shoes to fly around. I was thinking if you could shoot flames from your feet, you could use them like your own jet shoes," Andy shrugged. "Of course you'd have to learn how to move yourself in the air, and not set the ground on fire, or anything under you, and how to control your fire output so you don't exhaust yourself."
"And I think I see a spot where you could shoot the fire out from, on the back of your foot armor." Phantom added, pointing it out to Agunimon.
Looking down, Agunimon saw that Phantom was right. There was indeed a small slit on the back of his foot armor. He blinked before considering Andy's words. "I never thought about trying to use my fire from my feet." He admitted at last.
"Well, how about you work on that first?" Andy suggested. "But not here, grass is easily flammable. We could try it at the lab on our next training session. Which, by the way…"
Andy grinned mischievously at Agunimon. "Is gonna be a sparring match between you and Phantom~"
"Wait… What?!" Both Agunimon and Phantom said at the same time before looking at each other.
"Why are you shocked, Phantom? We literally just discussed this," Andy pointed out.
"I didn't expect to actually be fighting Agunimon!" Phantom exclaimed. "I thought it would be… Oh… I'm the ghost boy here…"
"... Nooo, I'm the actual ghost boy, and you just happen to have all the powers of a ghost," Andy sarcastically remarked.
Phantom decided to keep his mouth shut and blush.
Agunimon couldn't help but chuckle a little. Still, he was pretty surprised at the idea of sparring with Phantom in their next training session.
"Well, this should be interesting." Agunimon said after a few minutes of silence. "I can't wait to see how well I can hold my own against you, Phantom."
Phantom looked at Agunimon and gave a sheepish grin. "Yeah, same here, Agunimon."
Andy smiled before sighing. "Unfortunately… tonight… is the dreaded math homework…"
Phantom winced. "Ooof… Math always seemed to come easy to me when I was… alive… so… I don't know what to say to make it better…"
"I'd say you were lucky then. My brother and I suck at math," Andy groaned. "It's the numbers, they just look endless to me."
"Maybe you can try asking Uncle Jack?" Agunimon suggested, not needing a reason to hide the fact Jack was his uncle in front of these two who knew his secret.
"I guess. Dad is good with numbers, he has to be since he can invent and calibrate all those inventions," Andy said before he looked at his cell phone to check the time. "Speaking of which, it's already 9:46, I should head back before curfew."
Phantom nodded. "Good idea. You and Agunimon get back home. I'll see you next training session."
"Thanks, we'll see you then," Andy said before he went over to his moped, putting on his helmet. "And I'll see you at home for dinner, Agunimon."
Agunimon nodded before he decided to just run back to Fenton Works and revert back to human form behind the house.
Phantom took to the skies, turning invisible, leaving Andy to head back to Fenton Works on his moped.
While Phantom was heading back to Fenton Works, he couldn't help but wonder how the heck his brother was able to come up with all these training ideas to help him with his powers. Andy wasn't even half ghost himself, and yet it was thanks to Andy he was able to learn to better control, and use, his powers. Andy's idea to use the lab to check Danny's powers and progress was ingenious, it kept them on track on how much Phantom's grown over the months, and what kind of powers he was capable of using at the time. But Phantom also supposed that Andy learned from those times he was exposed to ghosts, when he turned into a dragon, when Tucker overshadowed him, even when Plasmius knocked him out. It was almost scary how quick Andy was to learn about these things.
Phantom shook his head. I can't think about that now, I need to get back home before Mom and Dad realize I was out so late! I'm already nearing curfew as it is!
Phantom was the first to get home, turning back to human when he reached his room and quickly grabbed his math book and waited. Agunimon was the next one to get home, making sure to revert to being Takuya before he walked into the house. Andy was the last one to reach the house, with only 5 minutes to spare before curfew. The boy parked his moped behind the house, and hurried into the house.
"Whew, barely made it…" Andy sighed in relief.
As much as Andy had wanted to do the training tonight, his Dad was taking up the lab all night. He was working on another new invention. So Andy would just have to wait and hope they wouldn't need that training any time soon. He decided to take a break from worrying about ghosts and training, and head upstairs to see if his brother had any luck cracking the math problem.
Andy opened the door to their room, seeing Danny on his desk, looking at his math book. "Hey, bro. Any luck with the math problem?"
Danny sighed and shook his head. "No. I know I'm the more mathematical twin, but this is just making no sense to me." He admitted at last.
"Is our math teacher expecting us to learn college math right now?" Andy grumbled. "We can probably ask Dad about it."
"Yeah, we probably should." Danny agreed. "I mean, I need math to become an astronaut, what with all the calculations needed for space flight and all that, so I really want to figure out how the heck this problem is supposed to be solved."
Andy nodded. Though he didn't say it, he was a little envious of his brother, as well as his sister. Jazz had a gift of being a genius in booksmarts, so she was acing all of her tests with ease. Danny, while he may not be as gifted as Jazz, was still considered to be a genius in his own right. His determination to become an astronaut kept pushing him to study, especially math, even though he wasn't naturally talented at it himself. Danny knew what he wanted to be. He had a knack for astronomy. He could tell where the planets were in the sky, he could tell what time it was by the position of the sun or the constellation of stars. Andy wished he could be that smart and talented.
Danny looked at Andy in confusion. "Is something wrong, bro?"
"Ah, it's nothing, I was just thinking about something," Andy waved off before picking up the math book. "Nevermind me, let's go talk to Dad so we can finish this homework up."
"Good idea. I think he's down in the lab." Danny said as he stood up. "I wonder what he could be working on down there so late at night."
Both of them headed down into the lab, holding their math books. There was some kind of vehicle heside Jack as he was tweaking it. From what the boys could tell, it looked like a hovercraft of some kind, with a glass cover on the front of it.
"Hey Dad, could we ask you something?" Danny asked.
Jack looked back at his sons. "About the Specter Speeder?" He said with pride. "Sure!" He said as he grabbed Andy and Danny with his arms.
"Actually we-" Andy began to say before Jack had all but pulled them into the vehicle he called the 'Specter Speeder'. "Okay…"
Andy knew it was pointless to say anything until Jack finished explaining what his latest invention was.
"This little baby has state-of-the-art Spirit Plane exploration technology." Jack explained as he showed the twins the dashboard of the Specter Speeder. "And it's even got a super sized cup holder, not like those phony 'super sized' cup holders, can't even hold a regular large drink."
Jack pushed a button on the dashboard, causing the cup holder to come out.
"Jack dear?" Maddie's voice spoke up from outside of the Specter Speeder.
Jack turned over to Maddie. "Yeah, Maddie?"
"It's getting awfully late. Is there something you might've forgotten today?" Maddie asked.
Jack looked confused. "Um… Not really…" He admitted, but he did feel like he was forgetting something.
"Something… significant?" Maddie tried to hint. "Something to do with today's date of September 9th?"
Well crap… Dad's going to get an earful if he doesn't remember their anniversary. Andy realized, but was also content to just watch and see what would happen.
"Ninth… ninth… Ninth? Ninth…" Jack muttered over and over again, trying to remember. It's not her birthday… or any of our kids' birthday. It's not Takuya's either… "Nope… Nothing comes to mind."
Maddie frowned, realizing she was going to have to spell it out for him… again. "Our anniversary, dear? Oh well, I suppose it slipped your mind… for the 18th year in a row!"
Maddie snapped at that last part, banging her fist against one of the Specter Speeder's thrusters. This caused it to accidentally activate, and Maddie was so mad at Jack that she didn't notice the Specter Speeder moving. Jack was so in shock that he forgot about the anniversary that he also didn't notice the Specter Speeder moving.
"I'm sorry, Maddie! I really didn't mean to forget! And this is only the third time in over 18 years that I forgot!" Jack argued back.
"Uh… are we moving?" Andy asked as he saw the Ghost Portal was getting a lot closer.
"I think we are!" Danny exclaimed. He was more than prepared to turn the Specter Speeder intangible if he had to, but the Ghost Portal doors opened, allowing the Specter Speeder to pass through into the Ghost Zone for the first time.
To say Danny and Andy were shocked that they were suddenly inside the Ghost Zone would be an understatement. After all this time since the accident, neither of them had ever been through that portal. They had no idea what to expect in the world of ghosts. Clearly it was very green and black. Andy was completely stiff, there was so much creepiness and wrongness that it made him feel paralyzed. Danny himself also felt stiff, but he didn't have it as bad as Andy did.
Danny looked around, seeing all of these purple doors floating up and down. There were also purple islands/rocks that were of varying sizes, and he could see the remains of old buildings sometimes. There were green shapeless blobs that floated around the Specter Speeder and even in front of the glass that covered the cockpit.
Andy couldn't move. Danny himself felt uneasy, but also welcomed at the same time. He didn't like these two conflicting feelings, but he was more scared than welcomed right now. He was also worried about Andy, this was definitely not a safe place for humans.
Then something large towered over them. It was covered in shadow, and surrounded by green ectoplasm that was moving almost like lava. Danny yelped as he pulled back on the control sticks and brought the Specter Speeder to a halt. The shadows lifted to reveal a ghost with white skin, green eyes, and wearing a white suit with a black tie, belt and gloves, as well as a matching hat.
"Trespassing in an unauthorized vehicle? That's against the rules." The figure, now revealed to be a ghost, stated.
"Uh… S-sorry, we uh… we didn't know… we're from… out of town," Danny shakily explained.
"Ignorance of the law doesn't give you the excuse of breaking it, punk. If I see either of you again, you and I will have a problem," The giant ghost warned.
"Yes, sir!" Danny squeaked out before he pulled the throttle to reverse and got the heck out of there.
Thankfully the Specter Speeder hadn't gone very far from the Ghost Zone's entrance, and Danny seemed to know how to get back somehow. Andy just kept sitting there, completely frozen. Danny was relieved they were back in the lab and out of the Ghost Zone, quietly landing beside their still arguing parents.
"Get this through your head, Jack Fenton, there are some things more important than hunting ghosts!" Maddie snapped, slamming her fist into the Specter Speeder's thruster again, but this time it didn't go anywhere.
Maddie decided she needed a break from Jack for a bit, and walked away. Danny had to drag Andy out of the Specter Speeder, who was still frozen stiff. Then Andy proceeded to plop down on the floor, fainting.
"Jeez, I'm also freaked out by your mom's attitude, but not that much!" Jack said as he picked up Andy, and noticed Danny sweating and shivering. "Maybe you boys have been working too hard."
Ugh, we just wanted some help with the math question! Danny groaned.
Takuya walked into the kitchen, wanting to get a snack, and saw Danny and Andy sitting at the table. Andy was looking down at a book while Danny was munching on some ice cream. Both of them looked kind of pale.
"Hey, uh… what's with you two?" Takuya asked, blinking in confusion.
"Have you ever thought about what the Ghost Zone could be like on the other side of the Ghost Portal?" Andy questioned.
Takuya blinked. "No… Not really? Why? What brought on this question?"
"We sort of accidentally got sent into the Ghost Zone while in Dad's new Specter Speeder," Danny answered.
"It was… scary… no… that's an understatement. It was like being in a world that had no sense of logic, filled with the wailing of the dead, how they want the living to be far away from their world. You can just feel the atmosphere trying to crush down on you, and you get the sense of not belonging in a bad way," Andy shivered.
"Wait… Really? You two were in the Ghost Zone?!" Takuya exclaimed. "Aw man! If I was in your place, I would've probably been blabbering about it!"
"Don't blabber about it…" Andy frowned.
"Eh? Why not?" Takuya asked. "What about telling Uncle Jack and Aunt Maddie? I'm sure they'd love to hear about what you guys saw!"
"For one, they'd freak out that we were in such a dangerous place to begin with. Two, I rather they didn't feel responsible for nearly sending us to our deaths. And three, they're both kind of having an argument, and we rather not burden them with this on top of that," Andy answered.
"Besides, I'm a bit too uncomfortable to talk about that place," Danny agreed.
"An argument?" Takuya blinked. "As far as I know, the only argument they have had is the Santa one, and that is at Christmas."
Danny grumbled about that little reminder.
"Dad forgot Mom and his anniversary," Andy explained.
Takuya grimaced at that reminder. "Ah… that one again… Before I moved, I remember being around when they had that argument…"
"Mom did exaggerate it a bit. Dad can be forgetful, especially when he's in the middle of a new invention, but he wouldn't forget their anniversary 18 times in a row," Danny said. "I guess it just frustrated her because he only forgot it once when you were still here, then he forgot it last year because they were getting close to finishing the Ghost Portal, and Mom would let that slide. But this was the second year in a row he forgot, so I guess that's what bothered her."
"Well, considering all that has been going on, it does make sense Uncle Jack would forget again, but still…" Takuya frowned.
"I'm sure they'll work things out. Mom just needed some time to cool down," Andy sighed. "That's why Danny and I had been quiet about going to the Ghost Zone due to Dad's Specter Speeder and Mom accidentally activating it when she hit it with her fist out of frustration. But… oh boy, we're going to have nightmares tonight…"
"If the Ghost Zone is as scary as you make it out to be, I'm glad I didn't go with you guys." Takuya shivered, for some reason feeling a chill that was not his own running down his back.
"In the end, we decided to just try our best with that math question. We didn't want another incident to happen, and Dad's preoccupied with Mom right now," Danny grumbled as he stuffed a spoonful of vanilla ice cream into his mouth.
"Yeah… would you two like a turkey sandwich?" Takuya offered. "I was going to make one myself, but it sounds like you two could use some cheering up."
"Yes please…" Andy nodded. "Could you toast mine?"
"You can keep mine cold," Danny said.
Takuya chuckled. "Sure thing." He said as he prepared to make the turkey sandwiches. As he made the sandwiches, Takuya couldn't help but let his mind wander. But it's odd. I got a feeling down my spine at the idea of going into the Ghost Zone with Andy and Danny. Like it was… I don't know how to describe it, just that it was a feeling I don't want to experience again. I guess I shouldn't worry about it too much, it's not like I plan to actually go into the Ghost Zone myself.
But despite that, there was a curious part of the boy about what the Ghost Zone looked like.
The next morning, Andy didn't get very good sleep that night. So he was yawning up a storm. He had been right when he said he would get nightmares that night, although it wasn't quite the way he expected. He saw his parents standing in some kind of courtroom, with blurry people in the background, discussing how they were bad people for hurting their own children. Andy couldn't get a good visual on the judge either, but from what he could tell, the judge looked like a ghost. Their body was a bit transparent, and it was glowing, much like every other ghost Andy had come across.
And for some reason, his parents were taken away with another ghost to do their punishment for 'being cruel to their children' or something. Andy couldn't remember the details very well. But he remembered being in distress about it. He, Danny, and Takuya were surrounded by glowing bodies, who were likely ghosts as well. They may have been getting ready to finish them off, but then Andy woke up. He couldn't really get back to sleep after that.
Andy just munched on his toast for breakfast, while Danny ate cereal as usual. Takuya was eating cereal as well, and Jazz was just reading another book. However, Jack and Maddie were missing from the table. They heard Maddie walking out the door, and Jack ran after her.
"Maddie, wait! I'm sorry I forgot our anniversary! I was just so caught up in my work on the Specter Speeder, time passed me by!" Jack exclaimed, trying to calm Maddie down as she was putting her suitcase into a taxi that was parked outside their house.
"We discussed this, Jack. I am still mad at you for forgetting our anniversary, but I'm visiting my sister in Arkansas. Tomorrow's going to be her 10th year anniversary of being divorced," Maddie replied in an annoyed tone. "Someone has to stay home to watch the kids."
Maddie opened the door to the taxi and sat in the passenger seat before she rolled down the window to look at Jack. "But you and I aren't done talking either. We'll talk more when I get back. And just so you know, there's a casserole in the freezer right next to the ectoplasmic residue samples."
Jack blinked. Maddie's casseroles weren't exactly the best food in the world, but they did last longer than most other foods. Jack wasn't sure if that was a good thing though.
"I… I see…" Jack said slowly, not sure what else to say. On one hand, things were not as bad as he had feared, but on the other hand, he was still in trouble. Oh man… How can I make it up to her?
Danny didn't quite hear Maddie when she was talking to Jack as she was walking out, but he did manage to catch the word 'divorce', which really made him worried.
"Divorce?" Danny frowned. "Guys, did you hear that?"
"Hear what? Mom yelling at Dad? Relax, she'll get over it," Jazz said, not at all worried about this. "Besides, I need to look through some stuff in my diary. So you guys go ahead to school."
"School starts late today, Jazz," Andy said. "They're fixing up some water damages after a pipe busted open in the boy's bathroom."
"I wonder how that happened." Takuya wondered. "Did someone play a prank and bust the pipe?"
"Rumor has it that someone was bullied so hard in the bathroom, that they pushed their heads too far in the toilet's drain that broke the pipe," Andy answered. "Or it could've just been a ghost attack that we didn't see."
"Well, we were gone for a while at that reunion thing." Takuya pointed out.
"Guys, are you forgetting? Mom said the word 'divorce'! I'm really worried about that!" Danny whined.
"I doubt Mom is going to divorce Dad over the anniversary thing," Andy said. "I'm pretty sure she was talking about something else. Just because you heard the word 'divorce' out of context doesn't mean she was talking about getting one with her and Dad."
"Hey kids!" Jack called in the kitchen. "How would you all feel about going to Arkasnas?"
"What? We just got back from Wisconsin," Andy grumbled. That was not a fun trip. "Why do you want to go to Arkansas?"
"Your mother is headed there, and I feel like I need to make it up to her." Jack replied.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" Andy quickly said as he walked over to Jack. "Dad, you don't need to go all the way to Arkansas to make it up to her. If you take us with you, she'll be mad that you're making us miss more days of school, if you don't take us with you, she'll be mad you left us behind. I'd say just wait until she comes home, then make it up to her."
Jack frowned. "That does make sense, but I still feel bad about what happened."
"Maybe you can make it up to her by giving her a really good present?" Danny suggested, hoping that Jack making it up to Maddie would stop her from possibly getting a divorce. "You know, to make up for forgetting your anniversary yesterday?"
Jack grinned. "That sounds like a good idea, Danno! Maybe I'll clean up the house too while I'm at it!"
"Great, we'll help you out!" Danny smiled.
"We will?" Andy raised an eyebrow.
"Sure, it would be good if we helped, because it would make the present more special." Danny explained.
To say Andy was annoyed would be an understatement. He had been planning to relax, maybe get a nap in before going to school today, but instead, here he was, vacuuming the living room because his brother volunteered them to help clean the house up.
Danny was taking care of the upstairs, while Takuya was in the kitchen. However, Takuya saw Jazz was acting like a bit of a nervous wreck.
"I just don't understand. There had never been any evidence that ghosts were an actual thing. And yet there was a clear cut ghost at the castle in Wisconsin… if I was wrong about ghosts, what else could I have been wrong about?" Jazz muttered, piling the kitchen table with books.
"Um… Jazz? Are you okay?" Takuya asked, concern clear in his voice. "You've been going over your diaries for… hours now?"
"I just can't fathom what exactly happened at that reunion," Jazz grumbled.
"It's been days since the reunion, and you're still going on about it?" Takuya frowned.
"I'm convincing myself it was just a dream, but I also can't. I've never seen anything like it before or since then, so it had to have been a dream, right? Caused by the stress of going on a long family trip, breathing into possibly radioactive air in the cramped RV," Jazz said at a rather rapid pace.
"Jazz… Calm down! You panicking isn't going to make it any more of a dream than you want it to be." Takuya said worriedly. "I think you need to do some schoolwork to distract your mind from this whole 'ghost' thing."
"Schoolwork? There's no time for schoolwork! Not when there could be ghosts anywhere! They could be invisible, watching us, waiting to strike! They could be inside someone's body for all we know! How do I know you're not a ghost right now!?" Jazz pointed, her hair in a tangling mess.
"H-hey! Calm down!" Takuya said as he held up his hands. "Just… calm down please! No need to accuse people of being ghosts, right?"
Jazz grumbled before she stood up. "I'll be at the library. I need to get away from here, and all of these ghost samples."
"Uh… right, you do that and I will be cleaning up the kitchen." Takuya said as he went back to cleaning the counters.
Jazz walked out of the kitchen and Takuya sighed, he was starting to see where Andy was coming from now. There's gotta be a way to help her get over this, or at least embrace it.
Andy watched as Jazz walked out of the door. Maybe if she could talk to a ghost in a friendly manner, she wouldn't be such a basket case right now. But I promised Phantom I would wait. He seems to be uneasy around every Fenton except for me for some reason. I mean, Mom and Dad, I understand, but if he could talk to me and Takuya, surely he could talk to Danny and Jazz too.
Danny, who was cleaning the upstairs, watched Jazz leaving the house from the stairs that he was dusting. Wow, who knew Jazz could be such a spazz when something doesn't go right for her? Maybe I should meet with her as Phantom. It would probably be good for her. I can see why Andy wanted me, as Phantom, to talk to her… But maybe that'll have to wait until after the anniversary thing is over with. I want to make sure Mom and Dad stay together.
Speaking of which, since nobody was looking at him, as they were busy doing their own tasks, Danny transformed into his ghost form. He wanted to check in on Dad. He turned himself invisible, and intangible, and flew down into the lab. He frowned when he saw the lab looked like a mess.
"Okay… I think I've created the perfect gift for Maddie." Jack smiled as he was fondling over a rather large gift box that was carefully wrapped up in pink wrapping paper, along with a yellow and blue ribbon tied together. "Now I just have to… uh… clean the lab…"
Jack sweatdropped as he realized he had been digging out parts from the boxes to make the perfect present for Maddie that he made a mess.
Jack heard his stomach growling. "I guess I can take a lunch break first."
Jack put the gift down, not wanting to get it messed up while he was eating, and made his way out of the lab, heading up into the kitchen. Danny floated down a bit after Jack left.
It's going to take him all day to clean this up… Danny frowned. Maybe I can try helping a little bit?
Danny sighed before he turned tangible and powered up a small ghost ray before he fired it absentmindedly at some trash on the floor. The trash was somehow propelled into a trash can.
Danny blinked, he had thought his ghost ray would turn the trash to ash, but instead it just bounced the trash where it needed to be. Deciding to test this, Danny fired another small ghost ray at more trash, and that pile of garbage was propelled into the trash can as well. Seeing this, Danny fired another small ghost ray at some lab equipment. Just like the pile of trash before, his ghost ray harmlessly propelled the equipment on a table. Danny smiled, seeing how his ghost ray didn't just destroy whatever it hit, if he made it weak, he could cause things to bounce instead. So Danny began to fire more ghost rays at everything else. He made sure to calculate the projectiles before firing so each thing he hit would go to their proper places.
Soon, the lab was being organized. Books and files were placed on their shelves, Fire extinguishers were placed in their correct spot against the wall and a stack of boxes.
Though Danny got a little too into what he was doing. He thought about how he should've thought of cleaning his and Andy's room like this ages ago. At least then he wouldn't have destroyed Andy's animal and manga collection when Skulker attacked him. He then accidentally fired at the last thing that was on the lab's floor, which was the present Jack just made for Maddie.
Danny realized this a little too late, and he gasped when he saw the gift flying towards the Ghost Portal. "No, no, no!"
Danny flew at the present, but it already went through the Ghost Portal. Danny stopped. He knew he should've just gone through to grab the present, but looking at the Ghost Portal made him stop. He was still traumatized from the last experience he had with the Ghost Zone, and he was frightened at the idea that if he went in as his ghost form, he may not come back out.
"Oh… crap… Of all the things to go wrong…" Danny groaned. "My and my stupid ideas…"
Danny decided he'll have to talk to Tucker and Sam about this at school. But there was also Andy and Takuya. They didn't know his secret identity, but they knew Phantom and Danny. There was no way they wouldn't notice Danny was missing, and Andy suddenly couldn't find Phantom anymore. After Vlad pulled that transforming stunt in front of his brother, it was a miracle that Andy hadn't put two and two together yet. But he most certainly would if both Danny and Phantom suddenly went missing.
Aw man… if only I could duplicate! Danny groaned mentally. That would be a very handy power to have right now… Although, even if I did, I'm not sure if I could've kept a duplicate active while I was far away…
There didn't seem to be a good solution to this. Danny had to get that present back, he was responsible for losing it, and it would be his fault if his parents got a divorce. Okay, calm down… I'll talk to Tucker and Sam first, maybe they can come up with something.
Before Danny knew it, it was time for school. He was glad that he could leave the house before Jack discovered the present was missing, he didn't know if he could've looked his dad in the eye when he asked what happened to the present. However, Danny's behavior didn't go unnoticed by his twin as he, Andy, and Takuya were walking to school together.
"Okay, Danny, what did you do?" Andy suddenly asked.
"Um… what makes you think I did anything?" Danny asked with a sheepish smile.
"You're fidgeting around, looking down at your feet, and being very quiet. Those are sure signs that you're guilty about something because you did something wrong," Andy pointed out.
"Wow, Danny better hope he never has to play poker with you," Takuya commented.
Danny looked down and blushed. "You really know how to read me, bro…" He muttered before sighing. "I… may have tried to… help clean the lab…" Danny muttered.
"And that is a bad thing, how?" Takuya asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Um… well it's not that I cleaned the lab that made it bad, it was…" Danny sighed. "I may have got a little too into it, and accidentally propelled Dad's present to Mom into the Ghost Zone."
"You did what?" Andy deadpanned. "How do you accidentally propel the present into the Ghost Zone? Were you playing golf with everything?"
Danny winced. "I didn't see it, okay? I was just having too much fun!" He whined.
"Who has too much fun cleaning?" Takuya questioned.
"That's not important, okay?" Danny blushed. "What's important is that the present Dad worked hard on to make up with Mom is gone!"
"Why didn't you use the Fenton Fisher to get it out?" Andy asked.
"I don't know if that would work!" Danny groaned. "It could be far in the Ghost Zone, way too far for the Fenton Fisher to reach!"
"I meant after you propelled the gift into the portal. You had time to get it then," Andy pointed out.
"I didn't think about it, okay?" Danny huffed.
"Great, so now what do we do?" Takuya asked.
"I was going to talk to Tucker and Sam about it first," Danny informed.
Andy frowned a little as an idea already came to his head, but it was so dangerous and risky, he stomped it into the ground. "Yeah, maybe we'll talk to them."
"Um… I'd like to talk to them alone first…" Danny requested. "It's a little hard to explain everything if too many people are listening."
Takuya frowned a little at this request. "Okay…?" He raised an eyebrow. "I guess I understand…" Odd… Why would Danny want to talk to Sam and Tucker alone? It only makes Danny have to explain everything twice over.
Andy raised an eyebrow. He had a better idea of why Danny wanted to talk to Tucker and Sam alone. He knew Danny was still hiding something from him and Takuya, something that only Tucker and Sam knew. So of course Danny would want to talk to them alone with that secret before inviting him and Takuya over.
"Alright, but let us know when you're ready to talk to us," Andy said before he looked his brother dead in the eyes. "And if you even think about ditching us, bro, I will chase you down, even if you go into the Ghost Zone… no, especially if you go into the Ghost Zone, understood?"
"Um… right. Duly noted." Danny said nervously with a grin on his face. "Nope, no going into the Ghost Zone for me." Jeez, how is it that I'm the one with the ghost powers, and Andy is the scary one?
"Good. Because I almost lost you once, bro, I'm not going to lose you again," Andy seriously stated before smiling. "Now, let's get to school~"
Danny swetadropped at Andy's change in attitude. "Right… school." He grumbled, feeling angry at himself for blasting that gift into the Ghost Zone.
Takuya understood that instinct to protect one's brother. He likely would feel the same way if this was Shinya. But he was still feeling pretty protective for his cousin. He just hoped that they wouldn't have to go to the Ghost Zone.
School felt long and grueling despite it starting later, meaning it would have to end sooner. During in-between classes, Danny was talking to Tucker and Sam in the hallway. He explained to them about the present situation, and how he had been worried about his parents splitting up.
"You should've heard them fighting. My folks never fight!" Danny frowned. "Well, they fight ghosts, but that's different."
"Danny, relax." Sam said as she put a reassuring hand on Danny's shoulder. "Nobody gets divorced over not getting a gift."
"But it's the thing Dad is going to use to apologize to Mom!" Danny groaned. "I mean, they're right on the brink! Anything could set them over the edge, I swear!"
"Aren't you being a little too dramatic about this?" Tucker asked. "I mean where did you even get the idea they might get a divorce over an argument? Did your Mom even say that word?"
"Said the word… she did! She said the word!" Danny practically panicked.
"Tucker!" Sam hissed. "What'd you say that for!?"
"What?!" Tucker raised his hands. "I didn't think Danny would panic!"
Danny however, gained a resolute look on his face. "That's it! I'm going into the Ghost Zone to get that present back!"
"How? Are you planning to go there as… you know?" Sam asked in worry.
"I might have to," Danny said.
"Weren't you worried about not being able to come back out of the Ghost Zone if you did? Wasn't that the whole reason why you didn't just go in to grab the present, then get out?" Tucker asked.
"Look, that was when I was alone. But now I have you guys backing me up in case something happens," Danny explained.
"What about Andy and Takuya?" Sam asked.
"Ah… right… I… didn't think about that…" Danny muttered, realizing Sam had a point. "Well, as long as we can do this before they come looking for me, it shouldn't be that hard, right?"
"But you don't know how the Ghost Zone works. For all we know, you could be in there for an hour, but it could've been a whole day here," Sam pointed out.
"Besides, Andy will come after you even if you tried to sneak into the lab. I can see him looking at us right now from afar actually," Tucker sheepishly said, pointing at Andy and Takuya, who were down the hall. They were far enough away to be out of earshot, but Andy was definitely keeping an eye on them.
"Great…" Danny grumbled. "Now we need to find a way to ditch the two of them before we put the plan into action…" Ugh… Sorry, bro, but I have to do this.
For the rest of the school day, Danny could feel Andy's eyes trying to burn a hole on his back. Andy was still waiting for Danny to include them in on the plan to retrieve the present, but the fact Danny never did made Andy decide he was going to keep an eye on Danny. Danny couldn't just turn invisible or something because then Andy would see that.
Things became a lot harder when school was out. Danny had planned to try to hide out in the boy's bathroom so he could go ghost and invisibly fly back to the lab. However, Andy followed him into the bathroom, and grinned when he walked into the same stall as Danny. Andy would just tell Danny that he could use the bathroom while he was there, it wouldn't be the first time they went with the other watching them.
So now, Danny was walking home with Andy right behind him. If it weren't for the fact he was trying to hide his secret from Andy, Danny would've used his ghost powers to ditch him a long time ago. Then again, if he wasn't trying to hide it from Andy, he wouldn't need to try to ditch Andy in the first place.
"So that was quite a day at school, huh, bro?" Andy innocently chatted. "Though you've been pretty quiet, and seemed to be trying to go to places that were pretty out of the way. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get away from me, bro. Now, I wonder why, hmmmm?"
Danny grumbled to himself in his thoughts, looking quite miffed at the fact he couldn't ditch Andy. Damn it, bro! Why can't you just leave me alone?!
"So… what's the plan? Surely you're not thinking about going into the Ghost Zone all by yourself, are you?" Andy innocently asked. "You know, there are other solutions, right? Like Dad could make another present for Mom. She won't be home until tomorrow morning after all."
Danny knew he had to ditch Andy, but how? Andy was following him like a fruitfly to fruit! How can I just ditch Andy? I mean, it's so dang hard with him following me like this!
Danny decided to try running from Andy. Andy ran after him. Andy had gotten a lot better at running since he started ghost training.
Danny thought he may have lost Andy in an alleyway, but then Andy began speaking from the top of a closed dumpster.
"You know, the alleyway is probably the most logical place to go and hide, therefore making it the most obvious hiding spot," Andy nonchalantly remarked. "And even if you did try to ditch me bro, all I have to do is wait for you at home, in the lab, watching the portal like a hawk~"
Damn it! Danny swore mentally. I need to keep Andy busy! But how?! Wherever I go, he goes!
"I can see you need some time alone," Andy spoke up. "So I'll meet you at home, bro. Good luck~"
Andy grinned as he walked away from the alleyway.
Danny grumbled to himself. "Damn it, bro! You're making this a lot harder than it needs to be…" He muttered under his breath.
Danny took out his cell phone to call Sam. If anyone could come up with an idea to distract his brother, it would be her.
"Hey, uh… Sam? Do you know anything that could distract Andy?" Danny asked.
"He's been keeping an eye on you?" Sam asked.
"Yeah… and he said he would be watching the portal like a hawk." Danny admitted, feeling embarrassed.
"You do know there's a very simple solution to this, right?" Sam replied.
"What would that be?" Danny asked, despite having a feeling he knew what Sam would say. Is she going to say that I should have Andy talk to Phantom about this? I mean… I guess that would distract him long enough for me to go into the Ghost Zone, but then he'll be suspicious when Phantom doesn't come…
"You take him with you," Sam answered.
Danny blinked. "Wait… what?!" He exclaimed, almost shouting but holding off at the last second.
Of all things Danny could've suspected what Sam would say, this wasn't one of them.
"Obviously you're not going to ditch Andy without making him suspicious of you and Phantom. So you either take him with you or you tell him your secret," Sam informed. "You don't want him finding out on his own after you ditch him. That would only make things a lot worse between you two, which I know you want to avoid."
"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Danny sighed. "But I can't believe this… If I take Andy with me, where will that leave Takuya? Obviously he won't want to be left behind either, and I'm sure Andy would tell me to tell him as well. And I can't just ditch him and Andy either…"
"Don't worry about Takuya right now. You can handle this with Andy pretty easily. You approach him as Phantom, not Danny, and say that Danny asked you to retrieve the present. You can tell Andy he can go with you, but only if he allows you to overshadow him, like he did with Poindexter, so you both can travel through the Ghost Zone easier. This way, Andy won't notice 'Danny' is missing, and he's also going with you," Sam informed. "Tucker and I will keep an eye on Takuya, unlike Andy, he's not as hyper focused on you."
"You'd be surprised… When we were younger, he kept a close eye on me like Andy is now." Danny muttered. "But I get the point. I think this can work."
"And if something does happen to you and Andy in that Ghost Zone, we'll at least have Takuya with us to help look for you guys," Sam added.
Danny knew that was more comforting than Sam knew, since only he, and Andy, knew about Takuya's other form. At least they wouldn't be completely defenseless if they needed to rescue his and Andy's sorry butts if it became needed.
"Alright… I'll transform, and hope Andy doesn't question where 'Danny' is when I make the offer," Danny said. "Thanks, Sam."
"No problem, Danny." Sam said with a grin before she spoke again. "We'll see you at Fenton Works."
With that, Sam hung up. Danny gave a sigh, he really rather not take Andy with him through the Ghost Zone, but it was the only way. The only other best option was to come clean and tell Andy the truth, but Danny didn't think that was the best time to tell him, especially since that could strain their relationship more.
Danny transformed into his ghost form and flew to Fenton Works, hoping Sam's plan would work.
Danny landed in the lab, surprising Andy, who had been playing on a handheld video game, with his charger plugged in. Andy had been planning to stay there for a good while.
"Phantom?" Andy blinked. "What are you doing here? It's not time for training yet."
"Ah, about that… Your brother asked me, via a note since he is still too uneasy around me, to help him get something important out of the Ghost Zone." Danny, as Phantom, admitted. "He said it was a present, but that was all I got out of him."
"Wait… really?" Andy blinked, nearly dropping his game, but he quickly caught it since it would be expensive to replace the handheld game console. "But I thought you never wanted to go to the Ghost Zone? Wasn't that why you stuck around Amity Park?"
"Ah… yeah, but… I'm also a ghost so… Gotta check it out sometime, right?" Phantom admitted sheepishly. "It's not like I'm going to remain there, Amity is my… ah… haunt, so I can't leave it alone."
"I guess… I mean other ghosts come through the Ghost Zone all the time, right? And more than once if Skulker is any indication," Andy agreed. "We thought back then if you did go through the Ghost Zone, you may not come back. But it looks like it's pretty easy to come back since we have a portal that's pretty much open at all times. But… are you sure you want to do this? I mean this doesn't really involve you, and I know going into the Ghost Zone is uncomfortable for you."
"I can't just ignore it." Phantom said. "I mean, your family is kinda in a crisis right now so… And your brother left me a note. I would say that's a clear sign of asking for help."
"I guess so… where is Danny anyways? I kinda figured he would try to get the present himself, feeling like he was responsible for it, the gooper," Andy questioned.
"Ah…" Phantom hesitated to respond. Crap… what do I say?!
Trying to keep calm, Phantom thought of what to tell Andy. "He's going to try to talk to Jazz at the library for the time being, probably to distract himself from… his distress."
Andy blinked. "Huh… Well, at least he's doing something productive during this."
"Yeah, so… I came straight here after I found the note." Phantom said. "Um… Since this is your family's present, I was… kinda hoping you would be willing to come with me. I… ah… would have to overshadow you, like Poindexter did, so you could traverse the Ghost Zone safely, but it could be doable."
"Wait… really?" Andy asked, surprised by the offer. "I would've thought you'd rather go without anyone else since you could move faster on your own, and you wouldn't have to worry about keeping anyone else safe."
"Let's be real, you'd grab that Sp- that machine back there to follow me if I didn't ask you to go with me," Phantom deadpanned, knowing his brother too well.
Andy grinned. "You'd be right."
"And that would put you in more danger," Phantom sighed.
"Well, I'm glad you're not ditching me like Danny was," Andy said, not noticing a faint wince from Phantom. "But could I ask you to wait first? I'm going to call Tucker to come over."
"Sure, I will just float around in the meantime, I guess." Phantom said with a small smile. "But why call Tucker?"
"Since he's a whiz at technology, he might be able to give us a camera or something while we're… um… flying through the Ghost Zone. This way we can stay in contact with someone from the outside just in case something happens," Andy explained.
Phantom grinned. "That makes total sense." He said with a smile as he floated off the ground and began to lazily drift around the lab, taking care to avoid Andy so he didn't phase through his brother.
Not long after Andy called Tucker, the boy came downstairs, with Sam.
"You brought Sam?" Andy asked.
"Yeah, she was with me when you called. She wasn't going to miss out on this," Tucker sheepishly answered.
"I'm also here to make sure you both don't get yourselves stuck in the Ghost Zone," Sam added.
Phantom chuckled. "I don't doubt you would." He said with a grin.
"Hey, someone has to keep you knuckleheads in line." Sam grinned.
Tucker smiled as he gave Andy a headphone with a mic, and a small camera attached to it. "Here, since you told me Phantom will be using your body, I figured you should wear this."
"Thanks… and don't make it sound weird," Andy grumbled as he took the headset.
"Why would I make it sound weird? All Phantom is doing is overshadowing you to help you pass through the Ghost Zone." Tucker said. "It's not like I could say-"
"Okay, I think Andy now gets it, Tucker." Sam grumbled, cutting off Tucker before his mind could enter the perverted state.
Another set of footsteps came down the stairs. "What's going on? A party without me?" A familiar voice asked, making the foursome turn back. There, on the stairs, was Takuya.
"... Hey… Takuya…" Phantom awkwardly waved before whispering to Andy. "Why didn't you take into account your cousin coming here?"
"To be fair, you did spring this on me at the last second," Andy huffed back.
Phantom blushed green, looking like a Christmas light again. I hate it when Andy is right…
"Phantom? Are we having a training session now?" Takuya asked.
"Um… well… not a training session… but…" Tucker hesitated.
"Phantom is going to look in the Ghost Zone for the present Danny lost," Sam bluntly stated.
"Then why is everyone else here? And why is Andy wearing a mini-web cam and headset?" Takuya asked as he raised an eyebrow.
"Um… I… may have asked Andy to come with me to the Ghost Zone…?" Phantom admitted sheepishly.
"... What? Why? Don't you know how dangerous it is for a human to go into the Ghost Zone?" Takuya frowned.
"I would've followed him if he didn't," Andy confirmed. "He's my friend, and I don't want him to go in there alone. Besides, we don't even know what effects the Ghost Zone might have on him."
Takuya blinked before frowning. Andy's words had some merit, but he had no idea how Andy would go with Phantom. "Okay…? But… How are you going with Phantom into the Ghost Zone? It's not like a human can go in on their own."
"I will be overshadowing Andy." Phantom admitted. "This way, I can be protected from anything that may affect me in the Ghost Zone, and I can give Andy the means to defend himself."
Takuya blinked in surprise. He hadn't expected this plan at all. "Huh… So you would be using Andy like a meat-shield for yourself, but Andy will have access to your powers. Um… right?"
"Well no, I mean, yes, but I don't plan to use Andy as a meat-shield," Phantom huffed, feeling quite insulted from that. "I'm only overshadowing him so he can traverse through the Ghost Zone with ease. If I have to carry him, that would put both of us in danger. If I could, I'd have him safely inside me somewhere instead."
As soon as those words left Phantom's mouth, he realized how awkward that sounded, and he ended up blushing so hard he was even brighter than a Christmas tree.
"I don't mean it like that!" Phantom squeaked when he saw everyone's eyes on him.
"I… think I will be having nightmares after hearing that…" Takuya muttered.
Sam was holding her head in her hands while Tucker was laughing up a storm.
Andy decided he was better off not commenting on what Phantom just said, instead, he looked over at Takuya and walked up to him before whispering. "This is actually good. You can stay here with Tucker and Sam, and monitor what's going on. If we need you, then you can keep Tucker and Sam safe while you guys look for us."
Takuya blinked, but nodded. "I think I can do that. But what if I have to… you know…" He trailed off, hoping Andy would get the message.
"Then you can try to make it look like you fell out of the Specter Speeder and hide while you do what you need to do, but if you can't do that and you need to do what you need to do, then ask yourself if keeping that secret is worth your, Tucker, and Sam's lives," Andy replied.
Takuya nodded. "I will." He replied back before he looked down at his device, which was in his pocket. I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does, I will do what I have to do.
"Alright, I think we're good here. Oh, and make sure Dad doesn't come down here. It'd be pretty bad if he got involved as well," Andy said.
"We'll keep an eye on things," Sam promised. "From what we saw, your Dad is eating his weight in fudge, so he'll be in the kitchen for a good while."
"But if he happens to finish early, I can make sure the door is locked." Tucker grinned. "And send him on a wild goose chase for a fake ghost~"
"Oh, that's brilliant, Tucker." Andy smiled, which made Tucker beam, knowing if Andy was saying he was brilliant, then it must be true. "Are you ready, Phantom?"
Phantom nodded and sighed. "Yeah… but even still, I so don't want to do this. I don't feel good going in there, or taking you with me."
"Come on, you get in, get the present, and get out. It's not that hard," Sam said, hoping to calm Phantom down.
"Besides… with this mini-web-cam, I'll be with you every step of the way," Tucker said, showing his PDA to show what the camera was seeing. "You'll both be fine."
Andy looked at Phantom and gave a small chuckle. "This'll be the first time since we've known each other that you overshadow me."
"Yeah, but I'm hoping I don't have to do it often." Phantom admitted. "When I have overshadowed someone, it feels like I'm wearing a suit of some kind. It… kinda freaks me out to be honest."
To try to make Phantom feel better, Andy gave a sly grin. "Well, now you get the limited edition, Andy Suit, filled with an automated trust AI who talks back at you if you know how to treat him well."
Phantom laughed at Andy's teasing. "I guess I can't argue with that!" He said before he turned intangible. "Now hold on, this may feel a bit odd since I am going to be um… pushing your consciousness to the side, sort of like what Poindexter did for you."
"At least I have experience," Andy said.
Phantom flew into Andy's body. Phantom had overshadowed people before, but this was the first time he had a willing person to overshadow. He was trying his best to be as gentle as possible with Andy's consciousness, he didn't want to knock Andy out, just put him to the backseat while he took the wheel for a bit. Phantom was surprised at how much Andy trusted him, since he gave him easy access to his body. Even those who didn't know Phantom was overshadowing them, there would still be a small subconscious struggle from the people he overshadowed.
Phantom just blinked, and he was suddenly standing where Andy was. He looked down at himself, seeing he was wearing Andy's clothes, and he could feel the headphones on his head.
"Hey, glad to have you on board~" Andy's voice chuckled in Phantom's mind.
"Hey, it looks like it worked!" Phantom said, using Andy's voice. Andy's eyes were glowing as well, showing Phantom was in control.
"So Andy's still conscious in there?" Takuya asked, still feeling weirded out whenever a ghost was in his cousin's body.
"Yeah, he is, I heard his voice," Phantom confirmed.
"Great, now you two can traverse the Ghost Zone," Sam said. "Be careful."
Phantom, in Andy's body, nodded before slowly making his way to the open Ghost Portal.
"Are you ready, Andy?" Phantom asked.
"I'll be honest, the Ghost Zone freaked me out the first time I saw it, but this time I'm prepared. And I have you to back me up. So yes, I'm ready, let's do it." Andy replied.
Phantom nodded before he flew through the Ghost Portal. It was his first time coming into the Ghost Zone as a ghost. He remembered feeling scared and welcomed at the same time, but mostly scared before. That feeling… hadn't changed at all really, though that could be because he was in Andy's body.
"Whoa… this place looks amazing!" Phantom and Andy heard Sam's voice from the webcam.
"And freaky." Takuya's voice added.
"I have to disagree with Sam and agree with Takuya." Phantom said nervously. "It seems to go on forever too."
"There are floating doors everywhere too. Where would we even start to look?" Andy questioned as he could see everything Phantom was looking at.
"I have no idea, Andy." Phantom admitted sadly. "It's not like we can pick a door at random and find the present there."
"Where do these doors even lead? Or are they just there for looks?" Andy questioned.
"That's… a good question…" Phantom frowned.
Deciding to see where these doors lead, Phantom flew to one of the doors and opened it. He saw what looked like a child's bedroom, and a human looking boy looking at a TV. The TV, however, was nothing but static. Evidently the boy either just really liked TV static, or he was seeing something Phantom and Andy couldn't see.
"This screams horror movie setting…" Andy commented nervously.
"Tell me about it…" Phantom agreed before deciding to talk to the boy. "Hey, um… Hello. Um… have you seen a present? About this big… And…"
The boy turned his head around to look at Phantom… without turning his body. Andy decided that yes, this was definitely a horror movie.
"I'm only going to say this once… get out of my room," The boy warned.
"I don't think he's seen, or cares, about a present, Phantom. Let's leave, now." Andy quickly said.
"Um… yeah… Sorry for interrupting you!" Phantom said before leaving the room, or lair as it was revealed to be.
"Okay… so uh… apparently these doors lead to a ghost's lair… good to know. We're lucky the ghost we ran into wasn't too hostile," Andy mentally gulped.
"Ugh… if these doors lead into a ghost's lair, we're never going to find that present…" Phantom groaned. My parents will get divorced and it's going to be all my fault!
"Just calm down, Phantom. We all just have to stay focused," Sam said through the camera.
"Too bad you don't have a human object detection sense or something, otherwise you'd be able to find that present in a jiffy," Andy commented, trying to keep both himself and Phantom from panicking.
"Yeah, being able to sense living world items would be quite handy as a ghost power." Phantom grumbled.
Meanwhile, back in the lab, Tucker was messing with the Specter Speeder.
"I can't believe D- Phantom didn't want to take the Specter Speeder, this thing rocks!" Tucker grinned. "It even has a monster cup holder!"
"I wouldn't mess with that Specter Speeder, Tucker." Takuya warned.
Tucker of course, didn't listen and pressed a button that had a scanner come up.
"The living world's item scanner." The computer voice spoke up when the scanner came up.
"Oooh, it's a scanner!" Tucker smiled.
"Did it say 'living world's items'?" Sam grinned. "So it can find items from our world in the Ghost Zone? I wonder why Mr. Fenton decided to add that feature."
"Maybe to find anyone lost in the Ghost Zone?" Takuya offered. "Or maybe to find any kind of probe he would send out."
"Maybe we can use this." Sam grinned again. "Tucker, set the Specter Speeder closer to the Ghost Portal, let's see if it can scan the Ghost Zone from there."
"You got it!" Tucker smiled.
As Phantom was flying Andy's body through the Ghost Zone, they heard Tucker's voice coming into the camera.
"Phantom, we can guide you to the present." Tucker said over the camera.
"Take the doorway coming up on your left." Sam instructed.
"I hope they know what they're talking about…" Andy said with a shivering tone.
"Yeah, me too… but I think we can trust them, it's better than going off of nothing," Phantom replied back to Andy before he flew into the door that came up to their left.
Phantom and Andy were pleasantly surprised to see all sorts of objects from the human world floating in this purple looking void.
"Huh… so this is where all that stuff ends up," Phantom commented, feeling a little more confident now seeing innocent objects floating around him instead of an angry ghost.
"Awesome, now let's find that present and get out of here," Andy said.
However, before they could look for the present, they heard a familiar voice. "YES! IT ALL ENDS UP IN THE POSSESSION OF THE BOX GHOST!" The familiar form of the Box Ghost came up in front of Phantom.
"Oy… really? What are you doing here?" Phantom groaned.
"Why do you think? This is the Ghost Zone, he is a ghost, and you brought him to the Ghost Zone before," Andy pointedly replied. "Besides, we don't have time to listen to Box Ghost's long, loud speeches, we need to find that present ASAP."
Phantom nodded in agreement. "Look, Boxy, I have more important things to deal with right now, so I don't have time to deal with your box puns."
"Well you need to beware, for I am merely only one of your foes who reside in this realm. They'll all be wanting a piece of you!" The Box Ghost pointed before blinking. "Hang on… aren't you looking a little… uh… different?"
"Well duh, I'm not Phantom, even if he is using my body right now." Andy mentally rolled his eyes. "Surprised it took him this long to ask."
"I am… currently overshadowing a human…" Phantom admitted. "I… kinda needed his help to find something important to his family…"
"Oh, is that so? Well that is…" Box Ghost stopped and blinked. "Huh… that's actually a moral gray area, I don't even know what to say to that…"
"Is he talking normal here? I think we broke him." Andy laughed.
Phantom chuckled as well. "I think we did, Andy." He agreed.
Suddenly, their conversation was cut short when they heard what sounded like a siren going off. Phantom and Box Ghost looked back for a moment, and the Box Ghost was alarmed. Even though he may not be the biggest fan of Phantom, he didn't wish for the ghost kid to be caught by this law enforcer.
"Flee! Lest you be hermetically sealed and shipped to your DOOM!" Box Ghost warned.
Phantom was surprised, and curious, he saw some green laser looking beams fly past the Box Ghost, before one of them caught him, and turned into ecto handcuffs.
"Don't just float there, fly away! Hurry!" Andy yelled, snapping Phantom out of his confused stupor.
Phantom didn't hesitate to flee, flying as fast as he could in Andy's body. Oh man, oh man, oh man! I hope I don't get caught! Who knows what this law enforcement would do to Andy, a human!
Phantom managed to dodge a lot of those green beams that were being fired at him. Right now the present didn't matter, all he could think about was keeping Andy safe. He had to get Andy away from here, he had to be responsible for his human brother, he had-
Phantom was put into a daze when he was caught by one of the green beams, and had his/Andy's hands and feet tied up by the ecto cuffs.
"Uh-oh…" Andy mentally gulped.
A voice spoke over the dazed Phantom. "Possession of unauthorized recording equipment? That's against the rules." The webcam was removed, revealing that warden-like ghost from before. "Or at least it is now."
What? He just made that rule up just so he could arrest me? Phantom frowned. "Wait, please, I only wanted to grab something important. I can leave and be out of your hair as soon as I do!"
"Oh no, begging with the law won't save you, punk." The warden ghost growled out. "There might be chaos all over in the Ghost Zone, but there will be order in my prison. You should've heeded my warning, punk. Now you and I have a problem."
Phantom frowned, but he wondered why this warden ghost hadn't called him out on 'possessing a human body' as being against the rules. That should've been a much bigger deal with having a stupid little web camera strapped on his headset.
The next thing Phantom knew, he was in the back of a floating, metallic police truck. Sitting right next to the Box Ghost. It was strange, everyone was treating Andy's body like he was a ghost too. Or the ghosts didn't seem to notice Phantom was overshadowing Andy's body. He would think these ghosts could tell the difference between a human and a ghost.
"Well now, going to a ghost prison. I never thought I'd see the day," Andy commented, sounding quite calm for someone who was going to ghost jail.
"Why are you so calm, Andy?" Phantom muttered. "This could be the worst day of your life and my afterlife."
"I'm coping… so let me cope!" Andy huffed.
"Why are you talking to yourself?" The Box Ghost asked. "Have you finally lost it?"
"You really can't tell?" Phantom asked. "I'm overshadowing someone!"
The Box Ghost blinked. "Oh, right, you did say that before. I just didn't think they would be conscious. Besides! It's hard to tell if you're overshadowing someone because you both look pretty much exactly alike! And the body you're overshadowing is letting out your ghostly aura, so it's difficult to tell if he's human or a ghost!"
Phantom blinked. "Wait… really?" He hadn't thought about that. So as long as I stay in Andy's body, then that warden ghost won't be able to tell he's human. So that means I've gotta stay in Andy's body as long as we're here to keep him safe.
"So I feel like a ghost to other ghosts right now? That's… huh… I guess it makes sense, since you're using your ghost powers through me and all, but I hope this doesn't cause my body to actually mutate into a ghost later," Andy mentally shivered.
"Yeah, I hope so too…" Phantom muttered.
But a part of Phantom actually wouldn't mind having Andy as another halfa, it would be nice to have a fellow halfa who wasn't Vlad. Not that he would ever admit that.
Then the vehicle stopped, and the ghost guard opened up the back of the vehicle. It gave Phantom, and Andy, the perfect view of the prison they would be staying at. They also got a good view of all the ghostly enemies they had fought with in the past.
At the front of the pack was Skulker. "Well well, if it isn't one of the young whelps who put us in this stinking place!" He said with a sinister grin on his face. "Welcome home, whelp…"
"Okay… this is the worst day of my afterlife…" Phantom groaned. Crap… I have to keep Andy safe from them. They're going to want revenge on me, and they'll take it out on Andy's body!
Skulker punched a fist into his right hand, indicating he was more than ready to cause a lot of pain for Phantom in the near future.
"Well then… looks like we've been transferred to a new high school. Welcome to Casper Prison, where everybody hates us, starring Skulker, who will take Dash's place as our main bully," Andy said as a coping mechanism.
Titanic X: ZAFT: Glad you liked the fight! XD The fights are always fun. :3
Son Sandy: ZAFT: True, Vlad doesn't consider all tactics. XD
DarkFoxKit: Vlad is usually very clever, but it's like what Andy said, Vlad forgot how strong or dangerous a human can be. He had been half ghost for so long he thinks humans are just helpless weaklings, and not worth considering unless they're Maddie, or if he has a personal grudge towards one like with Jack. So that was why he saw Andy as nothing more than an extra bonus for Danny, like he likely saw Jazz. Also, smart of you to already have Christmas presents ready a month in advance.
ZAFT: I really need to try that next year… ^^'
CT7567Rules: DarkFoxKit: Vlad doesn't know a lot about Digimon, but he knows enough about them that they can be dangerous to ghosts, and vice versa. He learned about them from other ghosts, but this was probably the first time he had seen one in person. I say 'probably' because we haven't quite thought of Vlad's background involving Digimon yet, it could change later on so take this with a grain of salt.
ZAFT: And as for Jack and Agunimon, yeah, Jack does see Agunimon as a friendly, but more of an ally/wild card since Jack and Maddie don't know what Agunimon is yet. They just know he is not human, and that he helped Jack out when needed the most. They can tell he's not a ghost though. But their interactions will be expanded as the story goes on. :3